


Crack me Open

by SageMasterofSass



Category: Black Sails
Genre: M/M, and Ben is totally accepting of that, and its not that great promise it's more a warm up than anything else, as he should be, asexual!Billy, ayyyyyyeee, bi/panromantic!Billy, but i'm so getting into this ship, the first ever Gunnbones fic!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 08:03:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6321508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SageMasterofSass/pseuds/SageMasterofSass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy and Ben have a little downtime together while they're on Nassau.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crack me Open

**Author's Note:**

> So! You can thank Willow (blacksayels on tumblr) for getting me into this ship. It's all her fault. It practically doesn't even exist?? But we're calling it Gunnbones if anyone else wants to jump on the bandwagon!~

Of all the things to come off of that Maroon island with him, Billy hadn’t been expecting a shadow.

Ben is…well, he’s Ben. Billy’s not really sure how else to describe him. He’s quiet and unobtrusive, but he’s got a powerful mind and strong opinions if you ever bother to ask him what he thinks of any given situation.

Oh, and also, he’s fucking glued to Billy’s side.

It probably has to do with the time they spent together in that cage, crouched on the rough floor, whispering together. Trying to find the best chance of survival. In the end it wasn’t all that necessary because Flint and Silver pulled through miraculously like they always do, the world’s most worrisome and dysfunctional partner duo. With Ben, well you don’t discuss life and death with a man without getting to know him pretty well.

Ben stuck to his side on the ship, while on Blackbeard’s island, and once they made land on Nassau as well. And surprisingly Billy had found, still finds really, that he enjoys the company. They’ve got similar ideals and worldviews, and unlike with Flint and Silver, Billy isn’t constantly on the lookout for ulterior motives, self destructive tendencies liable to kill the entire damn ship, or manipulation so thorough it honestly concerns Billy more than a little. No, Ben is pretty straight forward, and it’s like a breath of fresh air for Billy.

While they’re on Nassau trying to put together Vane’s rescue, they wind up with a lot of unexpected free time. For the most part they sit around and wait for their contacts to show up, but on the second day Ben is obviously going stir-crazy. For as long as he was locked up, Billy can’t really blame him.

Ben sighs and throws his head back, slumped down as far as he can go in his seat, arms crossed over his chest and legs spread wide. He stares at the ceiling blankly for a long time before rolling his neck to look at Billy.

“What the fuck is there to do for fun on this island?” he asks and Billy can only shrug.

“The whore house was always pretty popular,” Billy supplies after a moment. He’s honestly got no clue; the life of a pirate isn’t exactly _fun_ by normal conventions. Of course, there used to be bonfires down on the beach at night, great dances and loud music and enough booze to make a whole pod of whales black out. But since Nassau has taken the first step towards civilization, Billy doesn’t really think there will be too much of that happening anymore.

But whores? Well, even civilized nations have those.

Blowing out a harsh breath, Ben stares at the ceiling contemplatively for another moment before shrugging his shoulders. “Sure, anything’s better than sitting around here.”

“Just so long as we’re not gone more than an hour or two,” Billy warns. They didn’t spend all morning doing nothing just to miss their damn contacts.

Ben flashes him a crooked smile. “Deal, let’s go.”

Despite the whore house being under different management (or at least old management brought back) it’s still the same as it ever was. Even in the middle of the day it’s pretty busy, men scattered around the lounge with scantily clad women slipping between and among them, claiming a lap here, leading a man off to a dark corner there.

Billy leans in close to Ben. “Be careful,” he murmurs, “they’re all informants, so watch what you say.”

Ben’s clear blue eyes look incredulous though, as he swings his head one way and then another, apparently looking for something. Eventually he just settles on Billy, looking confused and upset. “Where are the men?” he asks.

Billy can’t help raising an eyebrow. “Uh, everywhere?”

The other man rolls his eyes. “No, not them,” he says, making a dismissive gesture at the room and its occupants at large, and then he drops his voice to a whisper, “I mean the workers. The _whore_ men.”

Billy’s so surprised his jaw kind of drops just a little. “Excuse me?” he manages to ask after a moment.

“C’mon,” Ben pushes, stepping closer so that their voices won’t carry. Their huddled on the edge of the room thankfully, so they’re not drawing a lot of attention. “Even English whore houses have molly boys. This is a _pirate_ whore house. They’ve gotta have men.”

Honestly Billy has to take a moment to process that particular conclusion. In the end he can’t really fault Ben for it, but he does shrug his shoulders with a sigh. “Sorry, no. Not even here.”

Ben looks thoroughly betrayed for a moment and then he seems to accept the facts and just slumps with them, more annoyed than anything else as he glances at their surroundings.

“Well,” he says sullenly, “there go my plans. Don’t let me hold you back though, one of us should at least get to have some fun.”

Billy’s shaking his head before Ben even finishes the words. “No, I’m good.”

And Ben just gestures again at the room, insisting, “Nah, go on! Seriously, we’re already here aren’t we?”

In his life, Billy has been forced to explain this particular thing about himself a handful of times. It’s been received differently every single time, but he’s not nervous about telling Ben.

“Yes, but I’m not interested either,” he says slowly, making sure Ben understands him when he continues, “and no I don’t mean in women. Just in general.”

Brilliant blue eyes narrow and Ben stares for a long, long time, like he’s trying to puzzle Billy out. “So,” he eventually says, “nobody then? You’re not interested in sex at all?”

“Sex, no,” Billy says simply. “People, also usually no, but I have fallen in love before.”

“And sex, you’re not a virgin are you?” Ben looks completely scandalized by the notion. Billy just snorts.

“No, I’m not. I’ve had sex a handful of times, but I’m still not interested in it.”

After a moment of quiet contemplation, Ben seems to accept the information. He nods slowly, and then claps Billy on the shoulder. “All right then, let’s get the hell out of here!”

Later, after an exhausting day of running around Nassau after meeting with their informant and trying to put a plan into motion, both men curl up on an old straw mattress in the corner of the safe house. Billy misses his hammock on the ship, its gentle swaying motion and the coarse fabric taught beneath him.

The lumpy mattress really doesn’t compare, but they’re both so tired that they don’t do more than bitch and moan for a minute before falling silent. Yet they’re not tired enough to just drop into sleep either, so they end up lying there together, breathing quietly, each lost in their own thoughts.

Billy is just starting to drift off when he feels the mattress shift, Ben rolling onto his side to face him. “Can I ask a question?” the man murmurs, voice hushed so as not to upset the gentle drone of insects outside the house. It’s not the same as the soft slap of water against wood.

“What?” Billy grumbles without opening his eyes.

“If you’re not interested in sex, then why did you have it?”

That, at least, gains Billy’s full attention. He squints one eye open, glaring a little at the far wall before he rolls over so he and Ben are lying face to face. “What?”

“Earlier,” Ben prompts, his eyes pale and liquid in the darkness. “You said you weren’t interested, but also that you’re not a virgin.”

Honestly, it’s way too fucking late for this. Billy should tell him to shut the hell up and ask him again at a decent hour. Instead he finds his lips parting on the words, “I told you I’d fallen in love before, right?”

At Ben’s nod, he goes on. “I had sex because they wanted to. It was always for someone else.”

“So you’ll fuck someone if you’re in love with them,” Ben concludes.

Rough and more than a little blunt, but fairly accurate. “Or let them fuck me,” Billy agrees.

It makes Ben startle a little, surprise evident even in the dark. And then he’s leaning up one arm, not quite hovering over Billy but definitely beginning to encroach on his personal space.

“You’ve fallen in love with men?” There’s a hint of excitement in his voice.

Billy just stares incredulously at him. “Man,” he amends. “Just the one, but there were two women before him.”

With a little whoomp and thump, Ben falls back down to the mattress, much closer than he was before but now lying on his back and grinning up at the ceiling. “I have a chance!” he tells the rafters, all breathy and slightly laughing. 

Billy snorts. “Yes you have a fucking chance, now go to sleep you idiot,” he chides, shoving half-heartedly at the man’s shoulder before rolling back over to settle in for the night.

He’s pretty sure he feels the faintest brush of a kiss against the back of his night, followed by a soft, “Night,” that he doesn’t answer. He’s too busy falling asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, come talk Gunnbones to me on [tumblr](http://scribespirare.tumblr.com/).


End file.
